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CNN NEWSROOM

Midwest, Mid-Atlantic Hit with Snow; Girl Survives Crash, Walks for Help; Mississippi Lawmaker Found Dead; FBI Joins Search for Student; T-Mobile Eliminates Phone Contracts; Reports: "Pollen Nightmare" Coming; Line Forms Outside Supreme Court; Same Sex Marriage Front & Center; Jerry Sandusky Speaks; CBS Apologizes to Veterans; NASCAR Tempers Flare

Aired March 25, 2013 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM. First week of spring? More like the last fury of winter. Treacherous roads, snarled air traffic, and up to a foot of snow and the spring surprise, it now is marching eastward.

Minutes seem like years. That's what the family of missing Brown University student says. Now the FBI is stepping in.

And we've seen the protests and heard the arguments for and against same sex marriage. Now the two cases are about to front and center before the nation's highest court.

Formula or food? Just how old should an infant be to start eating solid food? Apparently, many moms are starting way too early. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning from Washington. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello. We begin with a wintry mess that is scoffing at the calendar. Yes, it's officially the first week of spring. Try telling that to millions of Americans in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic states.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My car was completely sideways coming up the hill. And so thank God I managed to get right here in the center and I've been here about 45 minutes waiting on a tow truck.

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COSTELLO: A lot of people can relate, up to 7 inches of snow from St. Louis to Pittsburgh and before it's all over, some areas will be buried under a foot of snow. And it's not just snow that made for wild weekend weather.

That's amazing, isn't it? That's hail pounding the roofs and blanketing the ground. In fact, much of the eastern half of the country has seen any combination of high winds, thunderstorms and of course, snow and hail. In just a minute, we'll tell you where the storm is heading. But first let's show where you it is. CNN's Martin Savidge, you're the lucky straw. He is in Pittsburgh this morning standing in a couple inches of snow.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I am indeed. Good morning to you, Carol. It's all in your state of mind actually. This is the first snowstorm of the season, the spring season, which is why people are so depressed here in Pittsburgh because they look at the calendar.

The good news is it's not as bad as they feared. They thought 3 inches to six inches instead it's probably about 1 to 3. Snow is tapering off. We got light rain falling now. Pittsburgh in the background looks pretty. The drive, it's not that bad for a Monday morning commute.

It's been slowed, but it hasn't been stopped. About 400 school closures or delays, delayed openings. And then on top of that, they have problems at the airport mainly due to de-icing.

But really this was not a bad storm than it has been in other parts of the country, out west all weekend. They had a terrible time with this. It is still moving east, but at least for now not as bad in Pittsburgh.

We should point out the real tragedy, Carol, for the kids is the fact that many of them would have loved this as a snow day except they're on spring break.

COSTELLO: I don't know why I'm laughing. You know, the thing is it's not even going to get warm in these areas until mid-April. And that's really the depressing part to me.

SAVIDGE: Right. Yes, I think, you know, you look at the buds in the trees here, they're covered with snow. They know it's going to come. Just you can't wait and especially on a Monday morning, this is not what you want to face -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Definitely not. Martin Savidge reporting live from Pittsburgh this morning.

Other top stories, a 9-year-old girl is being praised for her courage after surviving a harrowing car crash. First, she smelled gasoline so she turned off the car's ignition then she crawled out of the wreckage and inched her way through the darkness and across forbidding terrain filled with brush, snakes and coyotes.

She wanted to get help for her father who was injured. Sadly, though, her rocs could not save him. By the time officers arrived, her father had died of his injuries.

Authorities in Mississippi are investigating the death of State Representative Jessica Upshaw. Officials say they found the state lawmaker dead at the home of a former state lawmaker. Police Upshaw apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. More than a week of searching has not turned up any clues about a missing brown university student. The FBI is now in the case. He did not have his cell phone or wallet with him when he was last seen March 16th. He was on approved leave from the school when he disappeared. His sister said he had been struggling recently with depression.

T-Mobile says no more contracts. The phone giant will now charge customers flat prices for minutes and texting. Only prices for web usage would vary depending on how much data you wanted. Charges are already available online.

Allergy experts are reportedly are expecting a robust allergy season. Some are calling it a pollen nightmare. Western and central states already are seeing above average pollen counts, most of that due to above average rainfall.

The U.S. Supreme Court is gearing up to hear two big cases involving same-sex marriage beginning tomorrow. And people are ling up outside the court to witness history. Some have been camped out in the cold since Thursday night.

They're vying for about 250 seats reserved for the public for each case while many are waiting in line to hear the debate for themselves. Others are being paid to hold a spot for big law firms or advocacy groups.

When oral arguments begin tomorrow, it will mark the first time the high court has directly delved into the highly controversial issue. They will first hear a case involving California's Prop 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California.

On Wednesday, they will hear a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. That federal law defines marriage between one man and one woman. Edith Windsor of New York is a plaintiff in the DOMA case.

She fought back when she received an inheritance tax bill for $363,000 when her partner of 42 years died in 2009. Here's what she told you in an earlier interview.

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EDITH WINDSOR, PLAINTIFF CHALLENGING DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT: New York State accepted my marriage as a marriage. And I believe and the Justice Department and the president agreed with me that the law DOMA is unconstitutional. DOMA is cruel. It discriminates against us for absolutely no value to the country and we'd like to see that defeated all together.

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COSTELLO: Joe Johns is in Washington with more on what's ahead this week. Morning, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Carol. These are two of the most important cases of the year for the Supreme Court. The case involving Edith Windsor is actually the second case scheduled to be heard this week on Wednesday. That challenge to the federal defense of marriage act.

This is the law passed by Congress and signed by the president in 1996 that takes away benefits of marriage of same-sex couples on the federal level. DOMA as it's called can affect over 1,000 benefits. Everything from the way married couples pay their taxes to who getting notified as next of kin in the event military personnel are injured or killed in the line of duty.

The first case on the docket on Tuesday is a challenge to California's Proposition 8, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. It's about equal protection and whether the fundamental right of marriage extends to same-sex couples.

It's being brought by same-sex couples from California who say they have the right to be married. There is also a very interesting question here of whether the people defending Proposition 8 are able to show they have standing to bring the case. In other words, the supporters of Proposition 8 have to show same-sex marriage causes them tangible harm.

COSTELLO: It's interesting because there seems to be such optimism on the part of gay rights advocates that they will rule in their favor.

JOHNS: And the question, of course, is whether now is the time? There has been an internal debate in legal circles whether this is the time to actually bring cases like this because it's all happened rather quickly. You think about 1996 and DOMA, you think about Proposition 8, which was just a few years ago.

And just a few states have laws supporting it. So, if you look at the states, most states still have laws forbidding gay marriage in one form or another and just a few have laws supporting it. So it will be a very interesting question and probably decided by the end of June.

COSTELLO: You have a busy week to hear these initial arguments for and against same-sex marriage. Joe Johns reporting live from Washington.

This might look like snow, but it's hail in Kentucky. The latest on the crazy spring we're having next.

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COSTELLO: It's 11 past the hour, time to check our top stories. The storm system making the first week of spring feel an awful lot like winter. It's dumping about 7 inches from St. Louis to Pittsburgh. Some areas could be buried under a foot. Much of eastern half of the country has seen any combination of high wind, thunderstorms and of course snow and hail.

Jerry Sandusky speaking out for the first time since his conviction on child sex abuse. A documentary filmmaker working on a project to exonerate the late Joe Paterno interviewed Sandusky and one excerpt airing on the "Today" show this morning you can Sandusky described why he thought eye witness, Mike McQueary's story changed.

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JERRY SANDUSKY: I think there are a lot of things that transpired. I think these investigators, the way they went about business, the story changed a lot.

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COSTELLO: The Paterno family is distancing itself from the filmmaker's project saying they believe any attempt to use this recording as a defense of Joe Paterno is misguided and inappropriate.

CBS is apologizing to veterans for an amazing race episode some found quite offensive and parts of the episode filmed in Vietnam, a fragment of a downed B -52 bomber memorial with your used as a prop. The American Legion and Veterans of foreign wars thanked CBS for admit to go the mistake and accepted its apology.

Joey Logano continues to make enemies out on the track. Vying for the lead on the final lap at Fontana, Logano and Hamlin got tangled up. Hamlin crashes into the wall and would have to be air lifted to the hospital, but would be OK. After the race, Logano's troubles continued as Tony Stewart came after him. The two had to be separated. Stewart was angry about a maneuver he said blocked him.

Same-sex marriage, the high court ready to hear oral arguments on two momentous cases this is week. Some call the push for same-sex marriage, the civil rights issue of our time. They say the tide has turned and that it's time for a change. Even Karl Rove thinks, yes, a Republican candidate could embrace same-sex marriage.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you imagine the next presidential campaign, a Republican candidate saying flat out I'm for gay marriage?

KARL ROVE: I could.

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COSTELLO: And that's all Karl Rove would say. I'm joined now by San Francisco City Attorney. He filed a brief with the Supreme Court challenging Prop 8 and Austin Nimocks is an attorney who supports Prop 8, which is a measure that in essence defines marriage between a man and woman. Good morning to you both.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for having us.

COSTELLO: Austin, you heard what Karl Rove just said. Are you on the wrong side of history?

AUSTIN NIMOCKS, ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND: The only side of history with regard to marriage is the right one regarding the truth. And that really should be decided by the American people. Americans have an inevitable and inalienable right to determine our own history and that's really a fundamental aspect of America.

We have a massive political debate going on in this country about marriage. And the last thing we need is the Supreme Court to take this debate away from the American people, print a 50 state solution to the marriage question.

That's not what we want. We have democratic institutions for a reason and we need to keep using them as we debate marriage, its meaning and its importance to our society.

COSTELLO: And Dennis, Prop 8 was approved by voters in California. You want the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn that law. Some say the court maybe loath to do that even with the public ever increasingly on the side of same-sex marriage. Are you really that optimistic?

DENNIS HERRERA, CITY ATTORNEY OF SAN FRANCISCO: I am. I just want to go back to Austin's point in talk about the political process. If we were to follow that line of argument, nobody reason to have a constitution and no reason to have an equal protection clause, which is precisely there to protect disfavored minorities from the tyranny of the majority.

And the fact of the matter is we've had this debate for quite some time. You've seen a massive shift in public perception and opinion and I think that's precisely because we have put discrimination on trial for nine years in my case.

And what we've seen is when you put the face of discrimination on family and friends, people understand there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to discriminate against gays and lesbians from exercising their fundamental right for marry. So we're very optimistic in this case.

COSTELLO: The Supreme Court has ruled on similar issues, for example, interracial marriage. So why shouldn't it rule on this issue?

NIMOCKS: Marriage has always been color blind, but it's not gender blind. A cornerstone of western civilization, something that has existed with for us hundreds and thousands of years before the idea of same-sex marriage even existed is all of a sudden unconstitutional and that American shoes have no right whatsoever to uphold this ideal in our public policy is really an outlandish argument.

We're talking about something that is a fundamental cornerstone of our society. Americans still believe in marriage because of its importance to our society and all of a sudden it can't just become unconstitutional. And that's why the Supreme Court doesn't need to work with a heavy hand here. We really need the Supreme Court to allow us to work through this through our democratic institution. There is no fundamental right to same-sex marriage in the U.S. Constitution. And that's very clear.

COSTELLO: Dennis, Austin might be on to something. In the "Washington Post," the process plays out and let the voters decided. The tide has already turned people decide on such a big issue. He seems to be saying where he should just let the process play out and let the voters decide. The tide has already turned. Could Austin be right in part?

HERRERA: I think if go back and look at Justice Kennedy's opinions when it comes to issues that are very much related as he's sirnl not in favor of taking away rights and discriminates against gays and lesbians by names them an inferior class. He's made that quite clear.

To Austin's point, we're not talking about a fundamental right to same-sex marriage. We're talking about a fundamental right to marriage. That has pain enshrined in Supreme Court precedent for over 100 year.

And we just want lesbian and gay individuals to have the same rights as that are opposite sex brethren and it's up to the other side to show why there is any rational reason to discriminate against our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters and to date they have been totally unable to show that.

COSTELLO: OK, so I'm going to ask you your beliefs about -- well, you'll get it when I ask you. Austin, if the U.S. Supreme Court rules that same-sex marriage is constitutional, now the law of the land, what will you do?

NIMOCKS: The debate on marriage is not going to end in this country. The Supreme Court can no more settle the question of this marriage debate than it settled the question of abortion. Americans are more pro-life now than at any time since Roe V. Wade because the debate continued.

So that's why we need the Supreme Court to not rule with her have I hand here. This is a rich Supreme Court precedent about marriage. And it has always been about one man and one woman. Mr. Herrera's argument he wants to redefine marriage and apply past Supreme Court precedence to it, it doesn't work that way.

Marriage has always been one man and one woman and Americans should have the constitutional and legal right to continue to uphold that in public policy. It's a political debate. It's not a constitutional question and where need to leave it to the political processes.

COSTELLO: Dennis, I will ask you the question. If the Supreme Court rules in DOMA, what do you do next?

HERRERA: I think it's pretty clear that as far as Prop 8, the United States Supreme Court is the final arbiter. But I take great solace in the fact that the incredible change in public opinion not the just in California, but across the country. Recent poll in California now shows that 62 percent of Californians are in favor of marriage equality and a recent poll POLL/"Washington Post" shows that nationwide 58 percent of Americans are in favor of marriage equality.

So we've always talked about being on the right side of history. We've been there since 2004. And I'm confident we'll be victorious in the Supreme Court. But even if not, the political winds certainly demonstrate that Americans are no longer in favor of discriminating against gay and lesbian people.

COSTELLO: It all begins tomorrow. Dennis Herrera, Austin Nimocks, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Up next, our Talk Back question: Can New York City Mayor Bloomberg buy gun control? Facebook.com/arolcnn or you can tweet me @carolcnn.

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COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, can Bloomberg buy gun control? An epic fight, New York City Mayor Bloomberg versus the National Rifle Association over gun control. Bloomberg threw his "Mayors Against Gun Violence" group is dropping $12 million on gun control ads.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad taught me to hunt and I'll teach my kids. I've owned a gun all my life and I'll fight for my right to keep it. Background checks have nothing to do with taking guns away from anyone. Closing loopholes will stop criminals and the dangerously, mentally ill from buying guns. That protects my rights in my favor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell Congress don't protect criminals. Vote to protect gun rights and our families with comprehensive background checks. Demand action now.

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COSTELLO: But the ads also target Democratic senators who are undecided on new gun control measures.

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MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK CITY: I think I have a responsibility and I think you and all of your viewers have responsibilities to try to make this country safer for our families and for each other.

And if I can do that by spending some money and taking the NRA from being the only voice to being one of the voices so that the public can understand the issue, then I think my money would be well spent.

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COSTELLO: The NRA calls Bloomberg's money bomb an attempt by the New York City mayor to impose his will on the American people.

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WAYNE LAPIERRE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CEO, NRA: They don't want him in their restaurants. They don't want him in their home. They don't want him telling them what food to eat. They sure don't want him telling him what self-defense firearms to own and he can't buy America.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Or as a conservative blogger put it, the loathsome nanny state mayor is now after your guns. With that kind of baggage, how effective can Bloomberg be?

Talk Back question for you: Can Bloomberg buy gun control? Facebook.com/carolcnn or tweet me @carolcnn.

Are you damaging your baby's health? Find out what 40 percent of parents are doing that could cause serious medical issues for their babies.

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